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GOD'S  COMFORT 


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FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 


DR.  J.  R.  MILLER'S  BOOKS 

A  Heart  Garden 

Joy  of  Service 

Beauty  of  Every  Day 

Lesson  of  Love 

Beauty  of  Self-Control 

Making    the    Most    of 

Bethlehem   to   Olivet 

Life 

Book  of  Comfort 

Ministry  of  Comfort 

Building   of   Character 

Morning   Thoughts 

Come  ye  Apart 

Personal  Friendships  of 

Dr.  Miller's  Year  Book 

Jesus 

Evening  Thoughts 

Silent  Times 

Every  Day  of  Life 

Story  of  a  Busy  Life 

Finding  the  Way 

Strength  and  Beauty 

For  the  Best  Things 

Things   that    Endure 

Gate  Beautiful 

Things  to  Live  For 

Glimpses  through  Life's 

Upper  Currents 

Windows 

When  the  Song  Begins 

Glory  of  the  Common- 

Wider Life 

place 

Young     People's     Prob- 

Golden Gate  of  Prayer 

lems 

Hidden   Life 

BOOKLETS                                    1 

Beaut y  op  Kindness 

Learning  to  Love 

Blessing    of    Cheerful- 

Loving my  Neighbor 

ness 

Marriage  Altar 

By  the  Still  Waters 

Mary  of  Bethany 

Christmas  Making 

Master's  Friendships 

Cure  for  Care 

Secret  of  Gladness 

Face  of  the  Master 

Secret  of  Love 

Gentle  Heart 

Secrets  op  Happy  Home 

Girls:  Faults  and  Ideals 

Life 

Glimpses  of  the   Heav- 

Summer Gathering 

enly  Life 

To-day    and    To-morrow 

Go  Forward 

Turning  Northward 

How?    When?    Where? 

Unto  the  Hills 

In  Perfect  Peace 

Young  Men  :  Faults  and 

Inner   Life 

Ideals 

Joy  of  the  Lord 

CONFESSION  •    AND  •  •  UESTORATIOK 


|(>W  MINE  EYi:  SEETH  THEE  *.    \\lIERf:FORE  I  ABIIOU. 
MYSELF,  AND  REPENT    fN  DUST  AND    ASHES  . 


FINDING 
GOD'S   COMFORT 

BY 

J.  R.  MILLER 

AUTHOR  OP  "the  SECRET  OP  LOVE."  "THE  JOY  OP  THE  LORD," 
"upper  CURRENTS,"  ETC. 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  T.  PARIS 

, .    '    '  - 

NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.   CROWELL   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 

MS" 


/> 

^ 


Copyright,  1913, 
By  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY. 


CONTENTS 

I. 

Afflictions 

Page     I 

II. 

Afflictions  Sanctified 

13 

III. 

An  Appeal  to  God 

24 

IV.  Confession  and  Restoration  37 


FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 


AFFLICTIONS 

THERE  IS  an  ancient  book  called 
Job  which  takes  its  name  from  the 
man  whose  story  it  tells.  He  lived 
in  the  land  of  Uz.  He  was  a  man  of  up- 
right life  and  godly  character.  He  had  a 
large  family  and  was  very  prosperous.  The 
home  life  of  his  family  was  particularly 
happy.  His  children  feasted  together  daily 
and  their  father  took  pains  with  their  re- 
ligious life. 

The  disinterestedness  of  Job's  piety  was 
questioned  in  the  heavenly  councils  by 
Satan.  God  asked  him,  "Hast  thou  consid- 
ered my  servant  Job?  For  there  is  none  like 
him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright 


2        FINDING  GOD^S  COMFORT 

man,  one  that  feareth  God,  and  turneth 
away  from  evil.''  Satan  answered  sus- 
piciously: "  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  naught? 
Hast  not  thou  made  a  hedge  about  him, 
and  about  his  house,  and  about  all  that  he 
hath,  on  every  side?  Thou  hast  blessed  the 
work  of  his  hands,  and  his  substance  is  in- 
creased in  the  land." 

Thereupon  Satan  received  permission  to 
try  Job,  who  was  stripped  of  all  his  pos- 
sessions and  bereft  of  his  children.  When 
tidings  of  his  sore  losses  were  brought  to 
him  he  exhibited  deep  grief,  but  he  made 
no  complaint;  he  only  said,  "Naked  came 
I  out  of  my  mother's  womb,  and  naked 
shall  I  return  thither:  Jehovah  gave,  and 
Jehovah  hath  taken  away." 

Again  there  came  a  day  when  God  talked 
with  Satan.  God  asked  Satan  where  he 
had  been.  Satan  replied  that  he  had  come 
"from  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth."  This 


♦.  /  '.  ^»  ' 


COS  FUSS  I  ON  •  -^VND  •  •  RESTORATION  •  • 


T>   REGIN  TCi  FIND  JOY   ONLV  WHEN  IN    SFXF- 

rokt.i  I!  I  I  NFss  N\i:  uecjin  to  iiflp  others. 


AFFLICTIONS  3 

was  Satan's  account  of  his  occupation.  He 
had  been  very  busy,  running  here  and 
there  among  men.  He  did  not  say  what 
he  had  been  doing  in  this  hurried  going 
from  place  to  place.  We  know  the  kind 
of  employment  which  fills  his  hours.  We 
know  he  is  never  the  friend  of  men  and 
never  the  friend  of  good.  He  never  goes 
about  to  bless  people.  Peter  confirms 
Satan's  own  statement  that  he  is  ever  going 
about,  but  he  adds  a  word,  lifting  the 
veil  and  showing  how  the  adversary  is 
engaged,  what  he  does.  He  goes  about 
like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour.  So  we  learn  that  he  is  not  so 
harmless  a  visitor  as  he  would  have  us 
think  he  is.  He  is  very  busy,  truly,  but 
he  is  busy  finding  ways  to  harm  God's 
children.  We  may  take  several  lessons. 
Satan's  example  of  ceaseless  activity  in 
doing   harm   should   stimulate   us   to   all 


4        FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

manner  of  activities  in  doing  good.  It  is 
a  shame  if  the  agencies  of  sin  and  evil 
are  more  diligent  and  earnest  than  the 
agencies  of  good  and  blessing.  We  should 
learn  also  not  to  be  deceived  by  Satan's 
professed  interest  in  our  lives.  Though 
he  transforms  himself  into  the  appearance 
of  an  angel  of  light,  w^e  know  that  under 
his  shining  robes  he  hides  the  lion's  heart 
and  the  lion's  ravenous  cruelty. 

As  before,  God  asked  Satan  if  he  had 
considered  his  servant  Job,  that  "there  is 
none  like  him  in  the  earth,  a  perfect  and 
an  upright  man."  God  knows  when  a 
man's  life  is  good.  His  judgment  never 
errs.  We  may  be  deceived  in  others. 
We  may  think  they  are  upright  and 
worthy,  when  in  reality  their  lives  are 
hollow.  Every  now  and  then  we  hear  or 
know  of  a  man  long  supposed  to  be  hon- 
est and  true,  respected  and  trusted  by  his 


AFFLICTIONS  5 

fellows,  who  is  suddenly  unmasked  and 
seen  to  be  only  a  mockery  of  the  virtues 
and  excellences  of  which  he  seemed  so 
long  the  very  embodiment.  But  when  God 
passes  on  a  man  an  encomium  like  this 
on  Job,  it  is  a  true  judgment,  for  he  sees 
the  heart  and  knows  what  is  in  man.  We 
need  not  care  for  any  one's  good  opinion 
if  we  have  not  God's.  We  should  not 
be  indifferent  to  the  approval  of  men,  but 
it  matters  little  if  we  have  this  if  we 
know  that  God  does  not  approve  us.  And 
if  men  condemn  us  it  need  not  break  our 
peace  if  we  know  that  God  approves  and 
is  pleased  with  us. 

God  had  more  to  say  about  Job:  "He 
still  holdeth  fast  his  integrity,  although 
thou  movedst  me  against  him,  to  destroy 
him  without  cause."  It  is  a  noble  thing 
to  see,  when  a  man  stands  steadfast  and 
faithful  to  God  in  the  midst  of  trials  and 


6        FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

adversities.  Such  a  man  is  like  a  mighty 
rock  under  the  beatings  of  the  angry 
waves  of  the  sea.  Thus  Job  stood.  Trial 
after  trial  came.  His  property  was  swept 
away  by  marauders  and  by  fire  and  his 
children  were  crushed  by  falling  walls, 
until  in  a  little  while  he  was  stripped  of 
all  he  had  and  left  a  childless  man.  His 
heart  was  broken  with  sorrow,  but  his 
faith  failed  not.  The  Lord  kept  his  eye 
upon  his  servant  and  was  pleased  to  see 
how  trustingly  he  endured  his  losses  and 
sorrows.  Do  we  meet  trials  in  the  same 
way,  holding  fast  our  integrity,  although 
the  hand  of  God  rests  heavily  upon  us? 
The  affliction  of  Job,  as  described  here 
from  the  divine  side,  suggests  to  us  what 
may  ofttimes  be  the  cause  of  trouble  in 
the  lives  of  God's  children.  Job  suffered 
to  prove  to  a  scoffing  adversary  the  genu- 
ineness of  his  religion.    Job  did  not  know 


.c«.       tccr    c 


'Mi^lyl'^j'^\..\ 


'HEY  PASSED   THROUGH  THE    FIRE  ....*-      ^      ^ 
ONE   MAY  SUFFER  A  GREAT  DEAL  ,  /\ND  ^XT  HIS  INNER, 
SPIRITUAL  LIFE  MAY  NOT  RECEIVE    ANY    HURT  .  ^ 


AFFLICTIONS  <7 

why  these  sore  losses  came  upon  him.  We 
do  not  know  when  we  are  in  trouble  why 
God  sends  or  permits  the  affliction.  B\it 
we  should  always  bear  ourselves  so  as  to 
honor  God  and  prove  the  reality  and  sin- 
cerity of  our  faith. 

Satan  was  unwilling  to  agree  that  Job 
was  such  a  man  as  God  thought  him.  He 
suggested  another  test:  "Put  forth  thy 
hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone  and  his 
flesh,  and  he  will  renounce  thee  to  thy 
face."  That  is  probably  Satan's  opinion 
of  all  religion.  At  least  there  are  a  good 
many  people  in  the  world  who  claim  to 
believe  that  all  religion  is  really  selfish, 
based  on  mere  self-interest  and  dependent 
on  outward  favor.  "Every  man  has  his 
price,"  they  say.  People  serve  God,  they 
aver,  only  because  he  is  kind  to  them  and 
so  long  as  he  continues  to  give  them  favor 
and   goodness.     We  need  to  guard  our- 


8         FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

selves  most  carefully  at  this  point.  Our 
Lord  has  told  us  of  those  who  begin  well 
in  their  following  him,  but  when  persecu- 
tion arises  because  of  the  word,  they 
stumble.  There  were  disciples  of  his  who 
went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him, 
because  of  the  severity  of  his  teaching  and 
of  the  hard  requirements  of  discipleship. 
No  doubt  there  are  many  professing  Chris- 
tians who  do  renounce  Christ  when  he 
touches  their  bone  and  flesh.  It  is  need- 
ful that  we  who  begin  to  follow  Christ, 
look  well  to  our  own  lives  that,  come  what 
may  of  suffering,  cost  or  trial,  we  shall 
be  faithful  and  steadfast. 

God  had  his  answer  ready:  "Behold,  he 
is  in  thy  hand;  only  spare  his  life."  It  is 
comforting  to  us  to  know  that  even  Satan 
with  all  his  power  cannot  stride  where  he 
will  in  God's  preserves.  He  cannot  break 
in   upon   a   child   of   God   whenever   he 


AFFLICTIONS  9 

pleases,  and  injure  God's  little  one  in  any 
way  his  fiendish  cruelty  may  choose.  Sa- 
tan could  not  touch  Job  till  God  gave 
him  leave,  and  then  he  could  go  no  far- 
ther than  God  permitted.  Of  Satan's  power 
Jesus  said  to  Peter  that  dark  night:  "Simon, 
behold,  Satan  asked  to  have  you  [margin, 
obtained  you  by  asking],  that  he  might  sift 
you  as  wheat."  We  are  not  given  the  full 
details  of  Peter's  case,  but  no  doubt  it  was 
precisely  as  in  Job's  here;  Satan  did  not 
believe  there  was  any  reality  in  Simon's 
attachment  to  Christ,  and  asked  leave  to 
prove  it.  Christ  permitted  Simon  to  fall 
into  the  adversary's  hands.  It  seems  for  a 
time  a  terribly  hazardous  thing,  but  it 
proved  only  a  sifting.  Much  of  Peter's  pro- 
fessed earnestness  was  sifted  out,  but  a  true 
spiritual  reality  remained.  We  tremble 
when  we  think  of  Satan's  terrible  power, 
and  dread  lest  he  destroy  us.     But  one  is 


lo      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

stronger — the  "strong  Son  of  God,  immortal 
Love."  If  we  are  his  and  keep  near  to  him 
he  will  shelter  us,  not  allowing  Satan  to 
touch  us,  only  when  the  testing  and  trial 
will  do  us  good,  and  not  suffering  us  to 
be  tempted  above  that  we  are  able  to 
endure. 

When  he  had  received  permission  from 
God,  Satan  so  sorely  afflicted  Job  that  his 
wife  urged  him  to  renounce  God,  express- 
ing surprise  that  he  still  held  forth  his 
integrity.  But  Job  answered,  "What, 
shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  God, 
and  shall  we  not  receive  evil?"  Too  often 
weak  faith  is  moved  from  its  steadfastness 
by  trials.  People  say,  "God  cannot  love 
me,  or  he  would  not  send  this  affliction 
upon  me."  Job's  answer,  however,  shows 
noble  faith.  We  take  good,  earthly  good, 
from  God's  hands.  We  believe  that  he 
loves  us  so  long  as  he  showers  upon  us 


G 


OD  KJSOWS   WHEN  A  M^VIM'S    LIFE   IS  GOOD  •    •    • 

AND    IF    MEN    CONDEMN     US    IT    NEED    NOT 
BREAK     OUR.   PEACE  . 


AFFLICTIONS  ii 

favors  and  gives  us  pleasant  things,  human 
joys.  Very  well;  when  he  changes  the 
form  of  his  providences  and  gives  us  trou- 
bles; when  he  withdraws  the  favors, 
should  we  conclude  that  he  no  longer 
loves  us?  We  are  permitted  to  see  within 
the  heart  of  God,  in  this  case  of  the  change 
in  his  treatment  of  Job,  and  we  see  that  God 
never  loved  him  more  than  when  he  al- 
lowed him  to  suffer  so  sorely.  It  is  always 
the  same.  At  the  close  of  the  first  trial  Job 
said,  "Jehovah  gave,  and  Jehovah  hath 
taken  away."  The  same  Lord  that  gave 
took  away;  yes,  and  the  same  love.  God 
knows  best  what  we  need  any  day  and  what 
will  most  advance  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
and  we  ought  to  trust  him  so  implicitly,  so 
unquestioningly,  that  whether  he  gives  a 
new  favor  or  takes  one  away;  whether  he 
grants  us  our  request  or  withholds  it; 
whether  he  bestows  upon  us  earthly  good 


12       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

or  causes  us  to  suffer  loss  and  adversity,  we 
shall  still  believe  and  say,  "God  loves  me 
and  he  is  blessing  me." 

This  record  of  Job's  misfortune  goes  on 
to  say:  "In  all  this  did  not  Job  sin  with 
his  lips."  If  Job  had  let  himself  murmur 
against  God  in  his  pain,  he  would  have 
sinned  with  his  lips.  If  he  had  lost  faith 
and  had  spoken  impatiently,  querulously, 
rebelliously,  he  would  have  sinned  with  his 
lips.  We  need  to  think  seriously  of  this. 
We  call  lying  sinning  with  one's  lips.  We 
call  profane  swearing,  words  of  bitter  an- 
ger, sins  of  speech.  We  sometimes  forget 
that  complaining  of  God's  ways  with  us, 
repining  at  God's  providences,  are  also  sins. 
Sweet,  quiet,  trustful,  joyous  submission  to 
the  will  of  God  is  the  kind  of  behavior  God 
is  pleased  with  in  his  children  in  time  of 
trouble. 


II 

AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED 

JOB'S  three  friends,  Eliphaz,  Bildad 
and  Zophar,  heard  of  his  sore  misfor- 
tunes and  came  to  condole  with  him. 
They  were  struck  dumb  at  the  sight  of  his 
calamity  and  for  several  days  and  nights 
they  sat  with  him  on  the  ground,  none  of 
them  speaking  a  word.  At  length  Job, 
moved  by  their  presence  and  sympathy, 
broke  out  with  a  passionate  cry  for  death. 
Then  began  a  long  debate  between  Job 
and  his  friends  on  the  question  of  suffering. 
Eliphaz  expressed  wonder  that  Job,  being 
righteous,  should  be  so  crushed  by  his  trou- 
ble, and  that  he  should  so  murmur  against 
heaven.  One  of  the  happiest  statements 
made  by  him  was,  "Behold,  happy  is  the 

13 


14      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

man  whom  God  correcteth."  He  is  not 
happy  at  the  time,  at  least,  in  the  world's 
way.  No  affliction  for  the  present  seemeth 
to  be  joyous,  but  grievous.  No  one  enjoys 
having  troubles,  sufferings,  trials,  sorrows. 
Therefore  this  statement  made  by  Eliphaz 
appears  very  strange  to  some  people.  They 
cannot  understand  it.  It  is  contrary  to  all 
.their  thoughts  of  happiness.  Of  course  the 
word  happy  is  not  used  here  in  the  world's 
sense.  Happiness  is  the  pleasure  that 
comes  from  the  things  that  happen.  It 
depends  on  personal  comfort,  on  prosper- 
ous circumstances,  on  kindly  and  congenial 
conditions.  When  these  are  taken  away 
the  happiness  is  destroyed.  But  the  word 
here  means  blessed,  and  the  statement  is 
that  blessing  comes  to  him  who  receives 
God's  correction.  To  correct  is  to  set 
right  that  which  has  been  wrong.  Surely 
if  a  man  is  going  in  the  wrong  way,  and 


AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED       15 

God  turns  his  feet  back  and  sets  him  in  the 
right  way,  a  blessing  has  come  to  the  man. 
Afflictions  are  God's  corrections.  They 
come  always  with  a  purpose  of  love  in 
them.  God  never  afflicts  one  of  his  chil- 
dren without  meaning  his  child's  good  in 
some  way.  So  blessing  is  always  intended. 
It  is  usually  afterward  that  people  begin 
to  see  and  to  understand  the  good  that  God 
sent  them  in  their  trial.  "What  I  do  thou 
knowest  not  now,"  said  Jesus,  "but  thou 
shalt  understand  hereafter."  "All  chasten- 
ing seemeth  for  the  present  to  be  not  joy- 
ous but  grievous;  yet  afterward  it  yield- 
eth  peaceable  fruit  unto  them  that  have 
been  exercised  thereby,  even  the  fruit  of 
righteousness."  So  when  we  have  trou- 
bles we  may  know  that  God  wants  to  do 
us  good  in  some  way  through  them. 

Since  this  is  so.  Job  was  exhorted  by 
Eliphaz,  "Therefore  despise  not  thou  the 


1 6      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

chastening  of  the  Almighty."  He  chas- 
tens us  to  save  us — to  do  us  good.  He 
chastens  us  because  he  loves  us.  He  is  not 
a  true  parent  who  sees  his  children  doing 
wrong,  and  yet  fails  to  correct  them  for 
fear  he  may  hurt  their  feelings.  He 
ought  to  think  of  their  higher  good,  and 
chasten  them  now  to  save  them  forever. 
This  is  the  way  our  heavenly  Father  does. 
He  never  loves  us  better  than  when  he  is 
correcting  us.  Therefore  we  ought  not 
to  despise  this  chastening.  We  ought  not 
to  murmur  or  complain  when  God  does 
not  give  us  our  own  way,  but  checks  us, 
lays  his  hand  upon  us,  and  sends  trouble 
upon  us.  We  ought  to  have  such  faith  in 
God  that  we  shall  submit  quietly,  confi- 
dently, and  sweetly  to  his  will,  even  when 
it  brings  a  cross  into  our  life.  A  great 
many  people  need  to  pause  at  this  line 
and  learn  it.     They  do  not  treat  God's 


AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED       17 

chastening  with  reverence.  Sometimes 
they  are  crushed  by  it,  and  refuse  to  look 
up  into  God's  face  with  submission  and 
love.  Sometimes  they  grow  bitter  against 
God  and  say  hard  things  of  him.  A  letter 
lies  before  me  while  I  write,  in  which  one 
who  has  met  sore  experiences,  whose  lot  in 
life  is  indeed  unhappy,  says  almost  angry 
things  of  the  God  who  could  permit  his 
child  to  suffer  so.  We  ought  not  to  despise 
— ^we  ought  to  reverence  God's  chastening 
as  sacred  with  the  sacredness  of  the  divine 
love.  We  ought  to  listen  to  the  voice  that 
speaks  to  us  in  our  grief  or  pain. 

The  way  in  which  God  brings  blessing 
through  chastening  is  emphasized:  "For 
he  maketh  sore,  and  bindeth  up."  Some 
one  says  that  God  never  smites  with  both 
hands  at  once.  When  one  hand  is  laid 
upon  us  in  affliction,  the  other  hand  is 
reached  out  to  help,  to  uphold,  to  heal. 


1 8       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

Sometimes  there  is  a  trouble  in  a  man's 
body  which  requires  the  surgeon's  knife. 
There  must  be  amputation,  or  cutting 
away,  or  cutting  into.  In  such  a  case  the 
skillful  surgeon  does  not  hesitate.  He 
thinks  far  more  of  his  patient's  health  for 
the  future  than  of  his,  comfort  at  present. 
So  he  uses  his  knife  that  he  may  cure  dis- 
ease or  save  life.  He  wounds  to  heal.  He 
makes  sore  that  he  may  bind  up.  It  is  so 
in  all  affliction  which  God  sends.  He 
chastens  that  he  may  deliver  the  life  from 
the  power  of  temptation.  He  hurts  the 
body  that  he  may  save  the  soul.  He  takes 
away  earthly  property  that  he  may  give 
trae,  heavenly  riches. 

The  assurance  continues,  "He  will  de- 
liver thee  in  six  troubles."  We  have  no 
promise  that  he  will  deliver  us  from  trou- 
bles, but  we  have  only  assurances  that  in 
our  trouble  he  will   save  us  from  being 


AM  Lie T IONS 


rr  IS  A  NOBii:  thfn'g  to  sfk.  when  a  hw  stands  stf  adfastI 

L    and  F.UTHFUL  TO  G01»  .   IN  THt  MIHST  0\     lUIAIS   AM) 
AIA^ERSITIES  .    •        •       THUS    JOB   STOOD  j 


AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED       19 

harmed.  There  may  be  trial  after  trial, 
but  no  evil  shall  really  touch  us.  We  have 
an  illustration  in  the  story  of  the  three 
young  Hebrews  who  were  cast  into  the 
burning  furnace  in  Babylon.  They  passed 
through  the  fire,  but  the  flames  did  not 
kindle  upon  them.  This  deliverance  was 
supernatural,  but  it  was  an  illustration  of 
that  which  God  always  does  for  the  souls 
of  those  who  trust  him  and  do  his  will, 
when  they  are  led  through  trouble.  One 
may  be  very  sick  for  a  long  time  and  may 
suffer  a  great  deal,  and  yet  his  inner,  spir- 
itual life  may  not  receive  any  hurt.  One 
may  lose  money  or  property,  and  yet  his 
true  treasure  remain  untouched.  In  all 
earthly  troubles  we  have  to  submit  to  God 
and  to  do  his  will,  in  love  and  trust,  and 
he  will  guard  our  lives  from  any  real 
harm. 
The  harm  from  which  God  guards  his 


20      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

people  is  noted:  "Thou  shalt  be  hid 
from  the  scourge  of  the  tongue."  It  seems 
strange  to  have  the  tongue  called  a  scourge. 
A  scourge  is  a  whip  with  which  one  smites, 
inflicting  gashes.  When  we  think  of  it, 
the  tongue  is  a  whip.  We  sometimes  hear 
the  ugly  expression  "tongue-lashing,"  used 
when  one  has  chastised  another  with  sharp 
or  severe  words.  There  are  many  kinds  of 
words  that  are  like  scourges.  Some  people 
are  forever  speaking  false  words  of  others 
' — calumnies — trying  to  injure  their  repu- 
tation. There  is  a  great  deal  of  scandal 
and  gossip  in  the  common  talk  of  many. 
Some  speak  unkind  words — sharp,  cutting, 
wounding  words.  The  tongue  is  an  instru- 
ment of  cruelty  and  harm  in  many  in- 
stances. But  this  word  says  that  God  will 
hide  his  own  children  from  the  scourge 
of  the  tongue.  How  does  he  do  this?  Not 
always  as  he  hid  Daniel  when  in  the  den 


AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED       21 

of  lions,  by  shutting  the  savage  creatures' 
mouths.  Oftener  he  does  it  by  means  of 
the  shelter  of  love,  which  covers  them  and 
keeps  them  from  being  hurt  by  the  bitter 
words.  Joseph  was  lied  against  and  suf- 
fered for  a  time,  being  cast  into  prison; 
but  the  false  words  did  not  really  do  him 
any  harm  in  the  end.  False  tongues  spoke 
their  calumnies  against  Jesus,  but  not  one 
of  them  hurt  him,  for  God  hid  him  mean- 
while in  the  refuge  of  his  own  love.  So 
it  will  be  always  with  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  God  and  go  quietly  on  in  the  way 
of  duty,  while  others  defame  them  or  re- 
vile them.  God  will  preserve  them  from 
all  the  evil  consequences  of  men's  slander- 
ous or  angry  words.  Only  we  must  take 
care  never  to  return  evil  for  evil,  bitter 
word  for  bitter  word.  When  we  are  re- 
viled, we  must  not  revile  again;  when  we 
are  defamed,  we  must  not  threaten,  but 


22       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

must  commit  ourselves  to  him  who  judges 
righteously. 

"Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  full 
age,  like  as  a  shock  of  grain  cometh  in  in 
its  season."  This  is  a  beautiful  picture  of 
a  godly  old  age.  We  often  see  laid  on 
the  coffin  or  held  in  the  dead  hand  of  an 
old  person  a  little  sheaf  of  ripe  wheat.  It 
suggests  that  the  life  is  complete;  that  it 
has  filled  out  its  measure  of  years;  and 
that  its  harvest  is  ready.  That  is  the 
thought  in  these  words.  Eliphaz  and  Job 
would  enjoy  great  blessing  and  prosperity; 
would  live  to  a  good  old  age;  and  would 
be  like  a  sheaf  of  ripe  wheat  at  the  last. 
Of  course  not  all  good  people  live  to  be 
old.  Many  of  the  best  die  in  childhood,  in 
youth,  in  early  years,  in  the  midst  of  life's 
prime.  But  at  whatever  time  a  Christian 
dies,  his  life  is  in  one  sense  like  a  shock  of 
corn,  coming  in  in  its  season.     As  God 


JIE  nuST  TIllW,    \J\%A^s.  IN  AW   HMR  OF  'n<C>rHLt  , 

L     IS  TO  Fl\f>  <;*»!)    \M)   UU)i,  AWAY   IN  HIS   UoSOM 

AS  A   C"I!IM>    !M   >.s     u>     rilE  MOTHfJ*    I-s   Al,Alfv\. 


AFFLICTIONS  SANCTIFIED       23 

looks  upon  the  death  of  his  own,  none  die 
prematurely.  He  gathers  no  unripe  fruits 
into  his  garner.  Whether  long  or  short, 
therefore,  the  life  that  is  devoted  to  God 
and  is  lived  obediently,  lovingly,  and  sweet- 
ly, comes  home  at  the  end,  in  the  beauty 
of  blessed  ripeness,  into  the  heavenly 
Father's  bosom. 


Ill 

AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD 

EACH  of  Job's  friends,  in  turn,  ar- 
gued his  case,  and  to  each  of  these 
Job  replied.  Three  times  the  dis- 
course went  around  in  this  way,  excepting 
that  in  the  last  round  Zophar  was  silent — 
a  confession  of  defeat.  The  friends  urged 
Job  to  confess  and  repent,  promising  that 
then  God  would  restore  him  to  favor. 
They  believed  that  it  was  for  sin  of  his  that 
the  hand  of  God  rested  so  heavily  upon 
him.  Job  was  bewildered,  but  indignantly 
repelled  the  charge  that  he  was  being  pun- 
ished for  sin. 

But  in  all  the  greatness  of  Job's  loss 
and  sorrow,  and  in  all  the  intensity  of  his 
own  personal  affliction,  he  did  not  breathe 

24 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  25 

a  murmur  against  God.  Once,  indeed,  he 
did  say,  "Even  to-day  is  my  complaint  re- 
bellious." But  he  meant  that  his  sufferings 
were  so  great  that  he  could  scarcely,  if  at 
all,  repress  his  complaint.  He  does  not 
mean  that  he  was  rebellious  against  God, 
for  he  was  not;  but  that  with  his  faith  in 
God  and  his  submission  to  the  divine  will, 
he  could  hardly  keep  his  grief  and  pain 
from  breaking  out  in  cries  and  groanings. 
Though  crushed  by  the  terrible  blows 
which  had  fallen  upon  him,  his  heart  gave 
way  to  no  bitter  or  unbelieving  words. 
There  is  here  a  beautiful  lesson  for  us. 
We  shall  all  sometime  have  our  troubles — 
not  likely  such  sore  troubles  as  Job  had, 
yet  troubles  which  it  will  sorely  try  our 
souls  to  endure.  If  we  are  God's  children 
we  should  bear  even  the  sorest  trials  and 
the  greatest  sufferings  without  complaining 
against  God.     It  may  not  always  be  pos- 


26       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

sible  to  repress  the  outcries  of  anguish, 
though  as  far  as  possible  we  should  do  this ; 
but  even  if  our  complaint  is  rebellious,  too 
full  of  pain  to  be  repressed,  we  should  not 
have  in  our  heart  any  rebellious  feeling 
toward  God.  An  English  writer  tells  of 
two  birds  and  how  they  acted  when  caught 
and  put  into  a  cage.  One,  a  starling,  flew 
violently  against  the  wire  walls  of  its  pris- 
on, in  unavailing  efforts  to  escape,  only 
battering  and  bruising  its  own  breast  and 
wings.  The  other  bird,  a  canary,  perched 
itself  on  the  bar  and  began  to  pour  forth 
from  its  little  throat  bursts  of  sweet  song. 
We  know  which  bird  was  the  wiser.  Some 
people  are  like  the  starling;  when  they  are 
in  any  trouble  they  chafe  and  fret  and 
complain  and  give  way  to  wretchedness. 
The  result  is,  they  only  hurt  themselves, 
make  themselves  more  miserable  and  do 
not  in  any  sense  lessen  their  trouble.    It  is 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  27 

wiser  always,  as  well  as  more  pleasing  to 
God,  for  us  to  bear  our  trials  patiently, 
singing  songs  of  faith  and  love,  rather  than 
crying  out  in  pain  and  discontent. 

Patient  Job  wanted  to  get  near  to  God 
in  his  great  trouble;  he  cried,  "Oh  that  I 
knew  where  I  might  find  him!"  He  felt 
sure  that  that  would  be  the  best  and  safest 
place  for  him  to  be.  We  ought  not  to 
lose  this  lesson.  When  trouble  is  upon 
us  the  true  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to 
flee  to  God.  Some  people,  in  their  afflic- 
tion and  sorrow,  flee  away  from  God.  They 
pray  less  rather  than  more.  They  become 
afraid  of  God,  at  times  almost  distrustful 
of  him.  They  even  think  God  cannot  be 
their  friend  or  he  would  not  cause  them 
such  suffering.  Many  people  in  time  of 
sorrow  get  away  from  God.  Thus  they 
lose  their  joy  and  peace,  missing  the  com- 
fort which  they  would  get  if  only  they  kept 


28       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

near  to  him.  The  right  way  to  do  is  to  try 
to  find  the  way  to  God's  very  presence. 
This  is  the  only  safe  refuge  when  the 
storms  of  trouble  break.  Even  the  young 
ought  to  learn  what  to  do  in  the  time  of 
sorrow — for  sorrow  comes  to  all.  Some 
day  they  will  have  to  meet  it,  and  if  they 
know  where  to  go  and  how  to  bear  them- 
selves, they  will  not  be  overwhelmed  even 
by  the  most  sudden  calamity  breaking  upon 
them.  The  first  thing  always,  in  any  time 
of  trouble,  is  to  find  God  and  hide  away 
in  his  bosom,  as  a  child  runs  to  the  mother 
in  alarm,  or  as  the  little  bird  flies  to  its 
nest    To  find  God  is  to  be  safe. 

The  reason  Job  wanted  to  get  face  to 
face  with  God  was  stated  by  him:  "I 
would  set  my  cause  in  order  before  him." 
He  had  confidence  that  God  was  his  friend 
and  that  if  he  could  stand  before  him  and 
tell  him  all  about  his  life,  it  would  be  well. 


i 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  29 

We  may  have  the  same  confidence  if  we 
are  God's  children.  This  does  not  mean 
that  we  have  no  sins  and  that  we  can  ap- 
pear in  God's  presence  and  explain  our 
acts  and  show  him  that  we  have  done  noth- 
ing wrong.  We  are  sinners  and  can  come 
before  him  only  with  penitence  and  con- 
fession. But  when  we  come  thus  and  cast 
ourselves  on  his  love  and  mercy,  we  may 
order  our  cause  before  him  without  fear, 
not  pleading  innocence,  but  pleading  the 
grace  of  Christ.  We  know  that  God  is 
pitiful  toward  our  infirmities. 

**  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 
So  Jehovah  pitieth  them  that  fear  him. 
For  he  knoweth  our  frame; 
He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust. ' ' 

!A!  still  sweeter  truth  than  that  which 
is  uttered  here  is  that  we  have  One  who 
can  order  our  cause  before  God  and  who 
will  always  seek  acceptance   for  us.     If 


30       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

any  one  sin,  said  the  beloved  disciple,  we 
have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  righteous.  We  may  go  to  God 
in  his  name,  in  the  time  of  trouble  sure  that 
in  his  hands  all  our  interests  will  be  safe, 
for  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession. 

Job  was  sure  that  if  he  could  only  get 
to  God  he  would  find  him  a  Friend.  "He 
would  give  heed  unto  me,"  was  his  expres- 
sion of  faith.  He  had  been  learning  more 
and  more  of  God's  real  nature,  and  had  at 
least  some  gleams  of  the  true  character  of 
the  mighty  God.  Especially  does  he  seem 
to  have  gotten  some  glimpses  of  the  divine 
Redeemer  who  was  his  friend.  Thus  a 
little  earlier  he  said: 

**I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 
And  at  last  he  will  stand  up  upon  the  earth: 
And  after  my  skin,  even  this  body,  is  destroyed, 
Then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God; 
Whom  I,  even  I,  shall  see,  on  my  side. 
And  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  as  a  stranger." 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  31 

Just  how  much  Job  really  did  know  of 
the  character  of  God  we  cannot  tell.  He 
certainly  believed  now  that  if  he  could 
come  before  God  he  would  meet  a  friend. 
We  live  in  full  gospel  light  and  we  know 
that  God  is  our  truest  and  best  friend; 
that  he  is  our  Father;  that  we  need  never 
fear  to  make  an  appeal  to  him.  He  is  not 
against  us.  His  almighty  power  is  not 
used  to  oppose  us,  to  break  us  and  crush 
us.  He  gives  heed  unto  our  cry.  He  loves 
us.  All  his  omnipotence  is  on  our  side. 
No  mother's  heart  was  ever  so  full  of  love 
for  her  child  as  is  the  heart  of  God  for  us, 
his  children. 

Though  clouds  darkened  his  sky,  Job's 
faith  was  not  clouded.  He  said :  "He  hid- 
eth  himself  .  .  .  that  I  cannot  see  him. 
But  he  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take."  God 
is  invisible,  and  we  cannot  see  him.  We 
see  that  he  is  working  here  and  there,  and 


32       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

we  turn  quickly  to  find  him,  but  our  eyes 
get  no  glimpse  of  him.  We  cannot  lay 
our  hand  upon  him.  We  cannot  see  his 
face.  Yet  we  know  that  while  he  is  not 
visible  to  our  sight  he  sees  us  always  and 
knows  our  way — ^where  we  are,  what  we 
are  doing,  what  our  circumstances  and  ex- 
periences are.  There  is  wonderful  com- 
fort in  this  for  us,  especially  when  we  are 
in  the  midst  of  dangers  and  trials.  "He 
knoweth."  There  is  a  beautiful  illustra- 
tion of  this  in  the  Gospels.  One  night 
Jesus  sent  his  disciples  out  upon  the  sea, 
in  the  boat,  to  go  to  the  other  side,  but 
he  did  not  go  with  them.  In  the  night  a 
great  storm  arose,  and  the  disciples  were 
alone.  They  were  in  great  distress.  We 
can  imagine  their  looking  to  the  right  and 
to  the  left,  forward  and  back,  but  they 
could  not  find  their  Master.  Meanwhile, 
however,  though  unseen  by  them,  he  was 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  33 

looking  down  upon  them  in  tender  love 
from  the  mountain-top.  He  knew  the  way 
that  they  took  in  the  darkness  on  the  sea. 
His  eye  was  upon  them  in  all  their  danger; 
and  we  know  well  that  they  could  not  have 
perished  in  the  storm,  for  he  was  caring 
for  them.  In  our  experience  it  may  often 
be  that  we  cannot  find  God ;  that  we  cannot 
see  him;  that  he  shall  elude  our  search,  and 
not  answer  to  our  cry,  and  not  come  when 
we  call  for  him.  Yet  it  is  a  precious  com- 
fort that  in  all  such  cases  he  knows  the  way 
that  we  take,  where  we  are,  and  what  we 
are  suffering.  We  are  never  out  of  his 
sight.  We  are  never  forgotten  by  his  love. 
Always  "he  knoweth,"  and  that  is  enough. 
"Your  Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have 
need  of,  before  ye  ask  him."  "The  Lord 
knoweth  them  that  are  his." 

**The  eyes  of  Jehovah  are  toward  the  righteous. 
And  his  ears  are  open  unto  their  cry.*' 


34      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

Job's  faith  enables  him  to  say,  "When 
he  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as 
gold."  Another  translation  of  this  line 
is:  "He  is  trying  me;  I  shall  come  forth 
as  gold."  Job  had  caught  the  true  mean- 
ing of  his  suffering.  It  was  trial — testing 
— as  gold  is  tried  and  tested.  He  felt  sure, 
too,  that  the  trials,  sore  as  they  were,  would 
not  do  him  any  real  harm.  We  have  all 
the  light  of  divine  revelation  on  this  mys- 
tery of  pain  and  suffering,  and  we  know 
that  what  Job  had  here  learned  as  in  a 
glimmering  is  the  blessed  truth  about  trial. 
God  chastens  always  to  save.  He  sends 
trouble  to  prove  us  and  to  establish  us,  to 
make  us  strong,  to  cleanse  us  from  sin,  and 
to  bring  out  in  us  the  divine  beauty.  We 
are  all  the  while  being  tested  and  proved. 
Trials  show  us  what  is  in  us.  Some  one 
says  that  afflictions  are  to  the  soul  as  a 
driving  rain  to  a  house.    The  water  comes 


AN  APPEAL  TO  GOD  35 

through  the  roof.  The  owner  did  not 
know  in  the  long  dry  season  that  there  were 
holes  and  crannies  in  the  roof.  The  storm 
revealed  them.  We  do  not  suspect  our 
weak  points  until  temptation  comes;  then 
we  find  them  out.  So  in  many  persons 
there  are  noble  qualities  of  character 
which  do  not  appear  in  the  common  ex- 
periences of  life,  but  which  come  out  in 
emergencies.  On  a  sinking  ship  there  was 
only  one  life-belt  left,  and  it  was  the  cap- 
tain's. There  was  a  poor  lad  on  board — 
a  stowaway.  The  captain  took  his  own  belt 
and  gave  it  to  the  boy,  himself  perishing 
in  the  waters.  No  one  would  have  sus- 
pected this  grandeur  of  soul  in  the  captain 
an  hour  before.  Like  revealings  of  char- 
acter are  made  continually  in  life — on  the 
playground,  in  homes,  in  times  of  danger, 
in  the  sick-room.  People  we  supposed 
thought  only  of  themselves  are  found  to 


36       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

have  hearts  of  unselfish  love.  Those  we 
thought  weak  or  timid  are  proved  strong 
and  heroic.  We  are  on  trial  all  the  time, 
and  the  experiences  of  life  show  what  is 
in  us.  Well  is  it  for  us  if  we  always  come 
forth  as  gold. 


IV 

CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION 

AFTER  Job's  three  friends  had 
talked  with  him  for  a  time,  a  new 
speaker  appeared.  This  was  Elihu. 
His  anger  was  kindled  both  against  Job 
and  his  three  friends,  and  his  speech  was 
intended  to  justify  God.  He  was  a  young 
man,  but  his  words  were  wise  and  wonder- 
fully full  of  instruction  on  the  great  prob- 
lem of  suffering. 

Finally  God  answers  Job  out  of  the 
storm.  Job  is  awed  and  humbled  by  the 
words  of  God,  by  the  sense  of  his  majesty 
and  holiness,  and  he  speaks  penitently  and 
softly.  God  spoke  of  his  might,  and  Job 
said:  "I  know  that  ...  no  purpose  of 
thine  can  be  restrained."    Men's  power  is 

Z7 


38       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

limited.  We  cannot  do  what  we  would. 
Many  of  our  purposes  are  restrained.  We 
want  to  do  good  and  beautiful  things,  and 
we  try,  but  our  achievements  fall  far  be- 
low our  thought.  Our  clumsy  hands  can- 
not fashion  the  loveliness  our  hearts 
dreamed.  Our  faltering  weakness  cannot 
do  the  brave  things  our  souls  aspire  to  do. 
No  artist  ever  paints  on  his  canvas  all  the 
beauty  of  his  ideal.  No  great  singer  ever 
expresses  all  the  music  that  burns  within 
him  as  he  sings.  No  eloquent  orator  ever 
utters  all  that  he  feels,  as  he  pleads  for 
truth  or  for  justice.  So  in  all  our  life  we 
do  only  a  little  of  what  we  strive  to  do. 
We  set  out  in  the  morning  with  purposes 
of  usefulness,  of  true  living,  of  gentle- 
heartedness,  of  patience,  of  victoriousness; 
but  in  the  evenings  we  find  only  little  frag- 
ments of  these  good  intentions  wrought  out. 
Much  of  our  living  is  but  faded  blossoms 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    39 

which  never  grow  into  fruit.  But  it  is 
not  so  with  God.  No  purpose  of  his  can 
be  restrained.  His  thoughts  all  teke  form. 
He  speaks,  and  it  is  done.  His  intentions 
are  all  carried  out.  No  power  can  with- 
stand him  or  balk  his  will.  He  doeth  all 
his  good  pleasure.  There  is  no  comfort  in 
this  truth  for  us.  It  was  in  this  thought 
that  Job  found  peace  after  his  long,  sore 
trial.  All  things  were  in  God's  hands,  and 
nothing  eould  hinder  his  designs  of  love. 
There  is  comfort  here  for  us.  Our  God 
is  infinitely  strong.  He  can  do  anything 
he  wills  to  do.  No  human  power  can  balk 
any  purpose  of  his.  In  all  earthly  confu- 
sions, strifes,  troubles,  sorrows,  his  hand 
moves,  bringing  good  out  of  evil,  gain  out 
of  loss,  for  those  who  trust  in  him.  We 
need  never  be  afraid  to  leave  our  life  ab- 
solutely in  God's  keeping,  for  he  k  our 
Father  and  nothing  can  thwart  his  love. 


40       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

The  thought  of  God's  majesty  leads  Job 
to  confession:  "Therefore  have  I  uttered 
that  which  I  understood  not."  That  is  the 
trouble  with  most  of  us.  We  talk  about 
things  of  which  we  know  nothing.  We 
chatter  about  God  and  God's  ways  as  if 
he  were  a  next-door  neighbor,  just  like 
ourselves,  whose  thoughts  and  plans  and 
feelings  and  motives  we  understand  from 
our  own.  We  seem  to  forget  that  he  is 
infinitely  greater  than  we  are,  that  his  ways 
are  wonderful,  past  finding  out.  Zophar, 
in  one  of  his  speeches  to  Job,  puts  it  thus : 
"Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God? 
Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto 
perfection?  It  is  high  as  heaven;  what 
canst  thou  do?  Deeper  than  Sheol;  what 
canst  thou  know?  The  measure  thereof 
is  longer  than  the  earth,  and  broader  than 
the  sea." 

Job  himself,  speaking  of  God's  works  in 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    41 

nature  and  in  providence,  adds,  "Lo,  these 
are  but  the  outskirts  of  his  ways :  and  how 
small  a  whisper  do  we  hear  of  him!  But 
the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  under- 
stand?" 

We  ought  to  learn  the  lesson.  God  is 
not  a  man,  not  one  of  ourselves.  If  we 
could  understand  him  he  would  not  be 
God.  His  greatness  puts  him  beyond  our 
comprehension.  We  cannot  hope  to  know 
the  reasons  for  his  acts.  Some  of  his  ways 
with  us  are  strange  ways.  We  are  per- 
plexed. We  say,  "God  cannot  love  me 
or  he  would  not  do  these  things,  send  these 
sorrows."  As  if  we  could  know  why  he 
does  these  strange  things!  We  ought  to 
learn  to  trust  God  even  in  the  deepest 
mysteries,  not  expecting  to  know,  but  sure 
of  his  love  and  goodness  even  when  it  is 
darkest  and  when  his  face  is  veiled  in  most 
impenetrable  mists.    We  ought  to  be  silent 


42       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

unto  God  even  when  we  cannot  understand. 
That  is  the  truest  faith. 

Job  was  not  satisfied  with  anything  short 
of  most  humble  confession:  "Now  mine 
eye  seeth  thee:  wherefore  I  abhor  myself, 
and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes."  That  is 
always  the  way.  Seeing  God  humbles  us. 
When  we  are  far  from  God  we  see  only 
dim  rerealings  of  him,  and  have  no  true 
conception  of  his  glory  and  holiness.  Most 
of  the  stars  we  see  in  the  heavens  are  said 
to  be  vast  suns,  like  our  own,  perhaps 
larger  and  brighter.  But  to  our  eyes  they 
appear  as  only  little  points  of  light,  be- 
cause of  their  immense  distance  from  us. 
Yet  if  we  could  fly  away  through  space 
and  draw  near  to  them,  they  would  appear 
more  and  more  brilliant,  until,  at  length, 
their  radiance  would  dazzle  and  blind  us. 
So  it  is  that  men  are  not  impressed  with  the 
greatness  and  the  majesty  of  God  while 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    43 

they  are  far  from  him.  But  as  they  come 
near  to  him  he  is  revealed  to  them  in 
glory  and  blessedness,  and  the  revelation 
shows  them  their  own  littleness,  their  own 
sinfulness.  The  more  we  know  of  God  the 
less  do  we  think  of  ourselves.  When  Isaiah 
saw  the  vision  of  God  in  the  temple,  he 
cried,  "Woe  is  me  I  for  I  am  undone;  be- 
cause I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  .  .  .  for 
mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  Jehovah 
of  hosts."  Once  when  Jesus  had  wrought 
a  miracle — filling  the  nets  of  the  disciple- 
fishermen — Peter  fell  down  on  his  knees 
and  said,  "Depart  from  me;  for  I  am  a 
sinful  man,  O  Lord."  The  work  of  power 
had  given  Peter  a  glimpse  of  the  glory — 
the  deity — of  Christ,  and  the  revealing  had 
shown  the  disciple  such  a  sight  of  his  own 
unworthiness  that  could  not  endure  the 
holy  presence.  The  experience  is  most 
wholesome.    It  is  only  as  we  learn  our  own 


44       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

true  condition  that  we  grow  in  spiritual 
life.  Seeing  Christ  transforms  us  into  his 
own  likeness,  by  showing  us  our  sins  and 
leading  us  to  depart  from  them  and  by 
showing  us  his  blessed  beauty  and  drawing 
us  toward  it. 

God  was  pleased  with  Job's  sincerity 
and  humility,  but  he  was  displeased  with 
Job's  friends,  and  he  said  to  them,  "My 
wrath  is  kindled  against  thee,  .  .  .  for  ye 
have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is 
right."  We  must  be  careful  never  to  mis- 
represent God.  We  must  be  careful  not  to 
profess  to  be  his  interpreters,  telling  others 
what  God  means,  why  he  does  this  or  that, 
lest  we  speak  of  him  the  thing  that  is  not 
right.  The  friends  of  Job  made  that  mis- 
take. They  thought  they  understood  God's 
meaning  and  purposes  in  Job's  trials,  and 
they  pressed  the  thoughts  upon  the  suffer- 
ing man,  adding  to  his  pain  and  grief.    But 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    45 

they  had  spoken  of  that  of  which  they 
knew  nothing  and  had  done  only  harm. 
We  had  better  not  try  to  explain  God's 
meanings  in  his  darker  providences.  We 
may  interpret  them  wrongly,  thus  misrep- 
resenting and  dishonoring  God  and  hurt- 
ing feeble,  sensitive  souls.  We  would  bet- 
ter let  God  be  his  own  interpreter. 

God  did  not  turn  from  the  friends  with- 
out a  message  of  comfort:  "My  servant 
Job  shall  pray  for  you;  for  him  will  I 
accept."  It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  for  a 
friend  one  who  has  God's  ear.  We  think 
ourselves  happy,  when  we  desire  a  favor 
of  one  in  high  place,  if  we  have  a  friend 
who  can  speak  for  us  with  influence.  Still 
greater  privilege  is  it  when  we  have  an  in- 
tercessor who  can  present  our  names  to 
heaven's  King,  and  whose  voice  has  power 
with  him.  There  are  human  friends  who 
can  and  do  serve  us  in  this  way.     They 


46      FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

live  near  to  the  heart  of  Christ  and  can 
speak  to  God  sure  of  being  heard.  "The 
supplication  of  a  righteous  man  availeth 
much."  When  the  telegraph  brought  me 
the  word  that  my  mother  was  dead,  my 
first  flash  of  thought  was  a  sense  of  the  loss 
of  her  prayers  for  me.  But  the  best  inter- 
cessor we  can  have  is  he  who  died  for  us 
and  yet  rose  again,  and  who  ever  liveth,  to 
make  intercession  for  us.  "If  any  man  sin, 
we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  Him  the 
Father  heareth  always.  Blessed  are  they 
for  whom  Jesus  prays. 

Job  did  as  God  suggested.  He  prayed 
for  his  friends,  and  his  prayer  for  others 
brought  blessing  to  himself:  "Jehovah 
turned  the  captivity  of  Job,  when  he 
prayed  for  his  friends."  This  is  an  im- 
portant statement.  There  seems  to  have 
been  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  blessing 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    47 

on  Job  which  was  not  removed  until  he 
began  to  pray  for  his  friends.  Probably 
he  had  a  feeling  of  unkindness  in  his  heart 
toward  them,  because  of  what  they  had 
said  to  him  about  his  trials  and  the  reasons 
for  them.  We  are  not  surprised  that  Job 
felt  in  this  way  toward  his  friends,  for 
they  were  not  wise  and  gentle  comforters, 
and  they  doubtless  gave  him  more  pain 
than  they  soothed.  A  good  many  people 
who  try  to  be  comforters  only  lay  thorns 
under  aching  heads  instead  of  a  soft  pillow 
of  down.  No  art  needs  a  more  delicate 
touch.  The  hands  of  most  of  us  are  too 
rough  and  clumsy  to  be  laid  on  throbbing 
human  hearts  in  efforts  to  soothe  their  pain. 
No  wonder  Job  felt  that  his  friends  were 
miserable  comforters,  and  that  he  was  not 
at  first  in  a  mood  to  pray  for  them. 
But  until  he  could  pray  for  them,  bless- 
ing could   not   come  to   him.     Unloving 


48       FINDING  GOD'S  COMFORT 

hearts  cannot  receive  the  divine  love.  The 
lesson  is  for  us.  Others  may  have  injured 
us  or  grieved  us  in  some  way,  and  we  may 
not  be  ready  to  forgive  them.  But  while 
we  feel  so  we  are  shutting  divine  blessing 
away  from  ourselves.  Job's  praying  at 
length  for  his  friends  showed  that  his  heart 
was  now  softened  toward  them,  that  its 
bitterness  was  gone,  that  he  had  forgiven 
their  cruel  words  and  taken  them  back 
into  his  heart.  Then  blessing  came  to  him. 
His  captivity  was  turned.  When  we  can 
pray  for  one  who  has  wronged  us,  or  mis- 
judged us,  or  said  unkind  things  of  us,  wc 
are  in  a  condition  to  receive  blessing  from 
God.  Job  was  also  ready  now  to  come  out 
of  his  sorrow  to  try  to  help  others.  This, 
too,  is  a  good  thing.  We  do  not  find  com- 
fort by  staying  in  the  darkness  of  our  own 
grief,  by  thinking  only  of  it;  we  must  for- 
get ourselves  and  begin  to  serve  others  and 


CONFESSION  AND  RESTORATION    49 

seek  their  good  before  we  can  find  the 
light  of  God's  comfort.  Selfishness  in  sor- 
row is — selfishness,  and  selfishness  in  any 
form  misses  God's  blessing.  We  begin  to 
find  joy  only  when  in  self-forgetfulness  we 
begin  to  help  others. 


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